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Start Up: How I Made It - Jill Barker, founder of Green Baby

Chemical-free baby company is in the pink

WHEN Jill Barker opened her tiny Green Baby shop in Islington, north London, she sold only one type of product — nappies. And most of them were washable nappies that few people used.

She said: “Everyone thought I was crazy. They thought it was just the silliest thing they had ever seen. They said what are you doing selling washable nappies when there are these fantastic disposable nappies out there?” Barker was brought up in Canada by her English mother and Dutch father and, after university, spent five years back-packing around the world. But she would often stop off in London for a few months to earn money by doing temping jobs in the City.

When she finally stopped travelling at the age of 25, she decided to stay in London, where she was offered a job at NatWest. After seven years she had become a salesperson on the derivatives trading